Dera follower, accused in the 2015 sacrilege case, shot dead in Punjab

FARIDKOT: A 40-year-old Dera Sacha Sauda follower, who was an accused in the 2015 sacrilege cases, was shot dead on Thursday by six unidentified assailants in Punjab’s Faridkot district, police said.

According to police, Pardeep Singh, a follower of Haryana’s Sirsa-based dera, was shot at his dairy shop on Hari Nau Road in Kotkapura at around 7am. His security man Hakam Singh and another shopkeeper Amar Singh also sustained bullet injuries.

“We are trying to identify the six assailants. We have strong leads on the accused,” said Faridkot SSP Rajpal Singh. “In view of the threat perception, three gunmen were provided to Pardeep and one of them was with him when incident took place.”

The incident was caught on a CCTV camera installed nearby. Of the six motorcycle-borne assailants, two entered Singh’s shop and opened fire at him, said a senior police officer. After they ran out of the shop, the other four waiting outside also opened fire. Around 24 rounds were fired, out of which eight hit Singh, said the officer.

All three victims were admitted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot. While Pardeep Singh succumbed to the bullet wounds, the other two were undergoing treatment, said the SP.

Soon after the incident, Canadabased gangster Goldy Brar — also an accused in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala — claimed responsibility for the killing in a purported video. HT could not independently identify the authenticity of the video. Police said they are yet to verify the claim.

Pradeep Singh is the seventh dera follower to have been killed since the sacrilege incidents of 2015 in Faridkot district.

Singh was an accused in a case of theft of a bir (copy) of the Guru

Granth Sahib from Faridkot’s Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in June 2015. He was also accused in a case linked to torn pages of the Sikh holy book found scattered at Bargari in the district in October 2015. The killing of Singh, who was out on bail, came days after the murder of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri on November 4 in Amritsar.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann tweeted: “Punjab is a peace-loving state where mutual brotherhood of people is very strong... No one will be allowed to disturb the peace of Punjab. Strict instructions (have been given) to the civil and police officials to maintain peace and tranquillity in the state.”

However, opposition parties targeted the Aam Aadmi Party government over the law-andorder situation in the state.

State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring tweeted: “As @AAPPunjab govt failed & @ArvindKejriwal forgot to do justice in sacrilege cases within 24 hours, people have started taking law in their own hands... Killings have no justification.”

Former CM and BJP leader Amarinder Singh also attacked the government. “Daily murders, Daylight Firing, Pb is sadly heading towards total lawlessness & the inexperienced @BhagwantMann led govt has been able to do nothing to stop all this. I strongly urge him to start focusing on law & order of state before we transcend towards the dark era of 80s,” he tweeted.

Dera Sacha Sauda demanded a probe into Singh’s murder.

“The assailants were closely following the movement of the victim yet the security personnel did not sense the threat. Before Pardeep’s murder, another community leader Sudhir Suri was killed despite police security,” said management committee member Harcharan Singh.

We are trying to identify the six assailants. We have good leads on them.

RAJPAL SINGH,

Faridkot SSP

HT (Top) The assailants were caught on CCTV firing at Pardeep Singh (inset) in Faridkot.